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Hungarian Grand Prix
Lewis Hamilton (7) |mostconstructorwins= (11) |races=35}} The Hungarian Grand Prix (Hungarian: Magyar Nagydíj) is an event of the Formula One World Championship which is held at Hungaroring in Hungary. History Origin On June 21, 1936, the Hungarian Grand Prix was held for the first time. The track was 3.1 miles (5.0 km), and was laid out in Népliget, one of Budapest's parks. All three cars of the , and were sent, and a very big crowd attended the race. However, there were no races afterwards for fifty years due to politics and World War II. Hungaroring The Hungarian Grand Prix, being a major coup by Bernie Ecclestone, became the first race in Formula One to be located behind the Iron Curtain. It is a mainstay of the racing calendar, taking place at the Hungaroring in Mogyoród near Budapest. As the Grand Prix is held under the heat during summer time in central Europe, it is the only current Grand Prix venue to not have a wet race until the 2006 race. Although tickets for the Grand Prix were expensive at the time, 200,000 people attended the first race. The support from the fans is still very enthusiastic at the moment, especially from the Finnish fans. Processional races associate the Grand Prix, because of the track's nature being narrow, twisty and often dusty due to its under-use. Sometimes, a lot of cars follow one another, not being able to overtake. In the 1990 Hungarian Grand Prix, Thierry Boutsen was able to demonstrate it perfectly by leading in his slower car in front of champion Ayrton Senna, who could not find a way to overtake him. Pit strategy is the secret to performing a win at the Hungaroring, as well as qualifying. This was best demonstrated by Michael Schumacher in the 1998 Hungarian Grand Prix, where had his pit strategy changed in the middle of the race before one of his finest drivers was put in so to make a winning margin following all of the pit stops that were made. At the circuit, passing is rare. However, Nigel Mansell was able to do a famously bullish performance in the 1989 race, where he started twelfth on the grid and overtook each car one by one, and eventually took the lead after Senna got baulked by Stefan Johansson. In , the Hungaroring had a slight modification so to allow more overtaking. Budapest had other notable occasions, like first Grand Prix victories for Damon Hill in , Fernando Alonso in 2003 (also becoming Spain's first Grand Prix winner, and the youngest driver at the time to take victory at a Grand Prix), Jenson Button in , and Heikki Kovalainen in (also being the 100th Grand Prix victor). Another note comes from , where Hill lost drive of his car on the final lap, costing him the win to Jacques Villeneuve. In , Lewis Hamilton came within six seconds from Daniel Ricciardo's victory after starting from the pit lane. In the 2001 race, Schumacher managed to equal the record of 51 Grand Prix wins previously set by Alain Prost, and win the championship, which too made a match with Prost's career tally. The first race in Hungary to take place in the rain was the 2006 race, which was also where Button took his first win after starting 14th on the grid. It was later announced at the 2013 Hungarian Grand Prix that Hungary's contract was extended until 2022. Title sponsors *1988-1990: Pop 84 *1991-2005: Marlboro *2006: Shell *2007: Agip *2008-2009: ING *2010-2012: Eni *2014-2015, 2017: Pirelli *2018-2019: Rolex Venues Totals Winners Winning drivers Italics mean not a Formula One World Championship race Winning constructors Italics mean not a Formula One World Championship race Notes External links *Official Ticket Agency of the Hungarian Formula One Grand Prix Category:National Grands Prix Category:Hungarian Grand Prix Category:Grand Prix articles